The Top Five Podcast

In this episode of the 'top five' podcast, my sister Annie and I launched a new series where we explore portrayals of different careers in movies. We opted to start with Teaching, with this episode making me reflect back on our "Top Five Movies About College" episode. Despite veering off the beaten path, we discuss both movies and characterizations that we think reflect disparate elements of the e...

Happy New Year, Top Five Fans!  And major apologies for taking almost a month off and not telling y'all about it.  Between Annie and me, we just needed to take a Tech Time Out.  But we are BACK and super duper excited for 2024!! Today's episode is highlighting characters from the incredible film career of one Gary Oldman - Oscar-winning Chameleon Actor who is all things sexy, hard-core, and funny....

Exploring Female Origin Stories in Movies In this episode, Sibling co-hosts Kris McPeak and Annie Pruitt delve into the origin stories of various female characters in pop culture. They each list their top five picks, followed by an honourable mention. The choices range from Thelma and Louise's Louise to Trinity, from The Matrix and even include characters such as Miranda Priestley from The Devil W...

Top Origin Stories That Need to be Told - The Male Character Edition In this entertaining episode of the 'Top 5 Podcast the show hosts, Kris and Annie, discuss their Top 5 picks for male character origin stories that they believe need to be explored further. These are characters from popular films who the hosts feel possess fascinating and untold backstories that could make for intriguing narrativ...

In this episode of 'The Top 5 Podcast', hosted by Kris McPeak and  Annie Pruitt, the pair discuss their top five guilty pleasure songs, and this crazy-fun playlist includes tunes from artists like the Nelson brothers, Hanson, and wildly popular boy bands like New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys. They mention songs from Rebecca Black, Air Supply, and Ashley Simpson. They also delve into their...

We're up to the second episode of our Guilty Pleasure Series - and after the Movies Episode, which was very difficult for Annie, bless her heart, we are back with our favorite Guilty Pleasure TV shows and this one was just a tad bit easier. Still silly. Remember - guilty pleasures are like the secret stash of chocolate you hide in your desk drawers – they're indulgent and maybe a tad bit naughty....

Well - y'all know we HATE to be behind on these shows, but sometimes life just gets in the way, right?  Apologies all around for keeping you hanging for - OMG - three weeks.  I mean, we get to start missing it, too, LOL. So this new series is all about The Guilty Pleasure.  Heather Z. and I were working up an episode on Guilty Pleasure TV shows, but then Annie dropped the series idea into my lap a...

Well, we are busting out all sorts of first's with this week's episode...Kris cried on the show for the first time, and DANG did we get all sorts of personal.  It was like group therapy, but it was just me and Annie.  And it was pretty freaking awesome. Creating a musical playlist about your life can be an incredibly fun and introspective experience. Think of it as curating the soundtrack of your...

Ah, the magic of music, right? Music enthusiasts have this incredible ability to connect deeply with certain albums because these albums often resonate with their emotions, experiences, or even the phase of life they're going through. It's like finding a musical soulmate! Certain albums become timeless classics because they capture universal themes or emotions, making listeners feel understood and...

So we're here this week to close out the country music series - we think, anyway - and as a Belated Labor Day show, we are honoring the World of Work.   this little episode  features songs that honor the work day, but even though the term "working class hero" does refer to blue-collar, Annie and I reflect on our own hourly-worker experiences as well as job transitions, etc.  I think y'all will enj...

Whoa, sports movies!!  What is it about these films that give us such a charge?? Movies about sports have this magical ability to captivate us because they tap into our deepest emotions and passions. They're not just about the game; they're about the human spirit, determination, and the triumph of the underdog. When we watch these films, we're not just witnessing a match; we're going on an emotion...

SPOILER ALERT:  Yes, absolutely, someone DID put "Islands on the Stream" on their Top Five List.  Now we can all relax. This is the second-to-last (I think) episode in our Country Music Series, and we do hope y'all have enjoyed these.  At the very least, you might have heard a new(er) country song that you hadn't heard before or even discovered an artist that you think you kind of like now.  I kno...

This episode was fun, but it wasn't as easy as you might think! You know already that Annie and I are a bit "koo-koo" over cover songs.  We have our very favorites and we have ideas of cover songs we would like to see created someday...but we also have some that we completely and unapologetically despise and we plan to tell you about that in today's episode.   Remember, a good cover song often add...

Maybe it's because both Annie and me didn't really get into country music until our adult years - and in both cases, that was around the late '90s and early 2000s - but we still feel compelled to continue the country music series AND the concept of our favorite "whatever" in The New Millenium...but that is the theme for today's Country Music Series Episode.   Although Annie and I didn't just stumb...

Welcome back!!  We wouldn't be doing our due diligence if we didn't give the ladies a chance to be featured for that whole Character Actor thing.  We talked about our favorite five fellas a couple of weeks ago, now we'll dish about the ladies! To be clear, what makes someone a "Character Actress?" A 'character actress' typically refers to an actress who specializes in playing distinctive, unique,...

I am quite surprised that it took us more than a year to get down with Country Music, but I'm really glad that we have, AND that we're starting this special "mini-series" with our favorite Drinkin' Songs. Annie and I both went to high school in rural Arkansas, and the first thing we ever learned about country music (having just moved from Chicago) was that there were three subjects covered:  My Tr...

yes, of course, "hey, Hollywood, let's give you ten more movies that require a sequel!"   Said no one EVER. Except that Annie and I are saying it now - and we really, really mean it! Seriously - you know there have been movies you've seen in the theaters - or even movies that you've been watching for two or more decades and you always say, "dang, I really want to know what happens to so-and-so aft...

Welcome back to another fun show!  Sorry that we've sort of been hit-and-miss since Annie returned from Europe.  Working this whole 4/10 schedule usually means I'm home by 6 pm and that's a little late for my Central-Time Co-Host Sibling to get started recording.  But don't you worry - the 4/10's will be ending SOON! Meanwhile, you're going to hear Annie and I talk alot about "New Millenium" thing...

Happy Belated Independence Day, or as I like to say, "Happy Birthday to My Favorite Sibling Co-Host!"  Yes, that's right, our own Annie Pruitt was Born on the 4th of July and we still totally let her think that the fireworks are all for her!   We had a couple of weeks off, ish, while Annie was in Europe with her family, but we have a HUGE new list of amazing topics coming down the pike soon, AND I...

Song Lyrics... When I was in college, Bobby Brown's "Don't Be Cruel" album had just been released and I remember giggling with my friend Camille about the "RONI" song.  We had turned "my heart belongs to tender Roni..." into "My heart, belongs to Macaroni."  and it wasn't too much longer after that when author Gavin Edwards published 'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy: And Other Misheard Lyrics If yo...

While there are certainly full seasons of shows you can binge-watch on Hulu or Netflix on a sick day, there are also a bunch of great movies out there that are easy to follow, will make you laugh and smile, and otherwise take your mind off of whatever ailment you are nursing.  And surely lots of us needed this list during our recent pandemic, but let's face it - when you're suffering from that sum...

This was the most fun episode EVER.  Thought it would be a little emotional, but it was more like two sisters hanging out and talking about songs that incite specific memories of super good times and for all of the right reasons. Like the song from bands she introduced me to...The Muffs, and Letters to Cleo. And the stuff I used to sing at the college Coffee House...again, songs that I introduced...

Well, happy Late Hump Day - or it might even be Thursday by the time this gets posted.  Regardless - Annie and I had a very busy Memorial Day Weekend, cranking out shows for y'all and trying to get ahead of the game while she's in Europe with the fam. As for me - it's "Summertime" at the day job, so I'm doing as much as I can to catch up and put summer projects into motion.  I mean...nothing says...

Well, to quote Kenny Chesney: "Summertime is finally here!" I just returned from Kansas to see my sister's daughter Emily graduate from High School, which seemed like the absolute perfect time to hang out and record a show about Summer Songs.  So not necessarily songs with "summer" in the title, nor are they songs that are specifically "about summer."  But these are songs that both Annie and I tur...

So there's that campfire scene in STAND BY ME where Jerry O'Connell's character is asked about the premise of only eating ONE food for the rest of his life... Cherry Flavored PEZ is certainly a great idea and all, but man (or woman) cannot live on bread (or PEZ) alone... This is why this episode is not about one song, but FIVE songs.   I mean, it's not called the TOP ONE Podcast?  It's the TOP FIV...